When is the decision-making process most stressful for first responders?

Question

Donald Soranno · Answer

When is the decision making process most stressful for first responders? Well, my answer is gonna be probably atypical than what you expect. You're probably thinking the most stressful is gonna be when the proverbial poop hits the fan and you're going through that type of situation. Actually, no. The most stressful time is when it's not a lot going on and you're doing admin work or dealing with personnel issues. That's when the stress is the highest. When we're out on a scene executing a warrant or doing an undercover deal, yes, there is a little bit of stress involved because you need that, but the decision making process that you're working with, you've trained for it. This is what you've worked for. You've gone over the processes, you've gone over the plan, you've gone over all the contingencies. So there's a little bit of stress, but it's really not that high. Where you're getting into the really stressful situations is something that you really don't train and practice for all the time. You got somebody who comes in and they've got a personnel issue, or you've got somebody who's underperforming, and then now you've gotta sit down and have that quote unquote difficult conversation with them and that's where a lot of people have a hard time with is taking that leadership role and providing those individuals that work for and with them the guidance, the mentorship, and actually counseling somebody or reprimanding them. Those are the stressful situations. But when we're out on a warrant or something like that's more tactical involved, we've trained for those. And the decisions that we have with those are not as stressful as more of the quote unquote mundane situations.

Dave Robertson · Answer

When is the decision-making process the most stressful for first responders? I can't speak for all first responders, I can just speak for myself. I would imagine there are some people that feel similarly though. For me, it was most stressful when I had to make decisions. It didn't mean if it was on the fire ground or an emergency scene or in an EMS call. It was when things were happening too fast for me to be able to process. So even with a heavy level of training and a good amount of mental agility to typically come up with a solution on the fly, you'll end up with situations that are changing so rapidly that by the time you come up with a solution, it's a solution that no longer applies. And so you have to reprocess and try to come up with another solution. I can give you a good example in an EMS call, not a specific one, just generally, where the patient changes. The patient will present a certain way and so I'm going to give them medicine X or I'm going to give them such and such a medical intervention. And by the time you get that prepared, they will have changed, worsened, or a new thing has presented. So now I've got to do it again and then do it again. When things are happening that fast, it's just too hard to process. That's when it's the most stressful. Your defense company is the institution that does the medicine for the treatment. So to give you a diagnosed patient kind of looked at who they want as a patient and a documented patient, your defense company is actually looking for your patient and they're kind of looking at who they see as an expert in their usage of the lab technique.

Shawn LaMar · Answer

When is the decision-making process most stressful for first responders? I'll just speak to the fire and EMS side. I won't speak for all first responders, but definitely the EMS side. When you have a critical patient that you're working on in a house, and you have to make rapid decisions because their condition just keeps changing or worsening, and you have to make those split-second decisions, especially when the family's in the room watching every move you make, every decision you make, either screaming from behind you or yelling at you, why aren't you doing anything, things like that. In my experience, those are probably some of the most stressful situations to be in while trying to make life-changing decisions.

Robert Verhelst · Answer

Alright, this is gonna really sound weird to people, but when is the decision-making process most stressful for first responders? Not while we're at the job. The most stress that we have, I believe, and this is obviously from my opinion, the most stress we have is when we're not stressed because our job trains us to be very good at making strategic decisions, tactical decisions, in the moment when it's super stressful. But when it's not as stressful, and when it's calmer, and it's quieter, the decision-making process is harder. I always call it first responder thinking, is that you solve the problem, you do it right away, that one goes away, and then you solve the next one. And trying to do that in real life does not work, because you have to talk through things, you have to think through things, and when you have time to be able to make a decision over time, make sure that you take the time to do that. Stress is what we thrive on, and that's the hard thing, is that when that stress is gone, and you're at home having to make a decision through communication, through collaboration, sometimes it's harder. But take time, you'll get there.

Robert Carlson · Answer

So when is the decision making process the most stressful for first responders? It's obviously going to be dependent on every single individual, but from my own personal experience, it's going to be events where I was having to make decisions in a very time compressed environment, meaning very rapidly. And combine that with not having all of the information available to me that I needed to be able to make those decisions in the best way. Maybe in a tactical setting, this means that we're in the middle of an ongoing tactical operation that's moving very, very fast. And maybe we don't have a complete picture of the situational awareness that we need to have. So you're missing some of those critical components that you need, and that adds a whole lot of stress to your decision making process.

Dena Ali · Answer

When you are insecure with your level of knowledge, the decision-making process becomes more stressful. For example, if you go on a high-rise call, but you haven't been reviewing the high-rise policy and procedure, you'll be trying to make decisions while also trying to remember what you're supposed to do. So that's when it becomes more stressful. And then, of course, when things are truly life and death, when it is something out of the scope, out of the ordinary, and you want to ensure that you have the best possible outcome. Granted, every decision is supposed to be the best, and you're supposed to be playing for those really high-acuity life-and-death situations. But when you have that information, you get a little more stressed, especially if it's something like a mayday, where one of your people is in danger. It becomes more stressful. We always have insecurity that will creep in, but the more we know, the more we're engaged in the books, the more we're attending trainings, the less stressful that decision-making is. Because when it's time to play, you really go into game mode, and you're focused. So stay engaged.

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"When is the decision-making process most stressful for first responders?"